A Merritt resident penned a letter to Merritt City Council at the regular council meeting of March 22, 2022, requesting that the City consider joining a Province of BC Electric kick scooter, or E-scooter, pilot project.
Currently, it is illegal to operate an E-scooter on a road outside of a pilot community, of which there are only eight province wide: Kelowna, Nanaimo, North Vancouver, Richmond, Vancouver, Vernon, North Vancouver and West Vancouver.

The City of Merritt has worked extensively on its Active Transportation Plan, under which guidelines regarding E-scooters would likely fall, with City CAO Sean Smith saying, “Our Active Transportation Plan in the City of Merritt, it’s very strong, it’s one of the strongest plans that we have in place right now, I would say.”

Councillor Adam Etchart did raise safety concerns, noting that Merritt does not have shared lanes or dedicated bicycle lanes which could be used to accommodate E-scooter users.
“I like the idea of it because you see in the cities, people riding their scooters all over the place, and I support it, I’m just not seeing all the spaces where you can really ride on the side of the road in so many spots around town,” said Etchart.

Councillor Kurt Christopherson echoed these concerns.
“Safety is something that I would want to make sure is factored into this,” said Christopherson.

“I’m very excited to see us exploring this possibility, I think it’s one of many types of ways that communities and small cities and big cities can encourage the use of, not only active transportation, but also alternative modes of transportation,” said councillor Travis Fehr.

City of Merritt staff did reach out to the province to inquire whether or not they were still taking applicants for the pilot project and the province did provide a response with appropriate directions necessary to follow up. However, Planning and Development Services Manager, Don McArthur indicated that staff would like to explore the possibility further by speaking to other communities involved and assessing financial and logistical implications of the project.

If Merritt were to join the pilot project, it would be the smallest community by far with a population of roughly 7,000. Vernon, the current smallest city to take part, has a population of just over 40,000.
A motion asking staff to explore the E-scooter project further passed unanimously.

“At $1.92 a litre for gas I think a lot of people are going to be looking at the E-scooter as a very viable mode of transportation,” joked councillor Etchart.